Sony Cyber-shot DSC-F707: 5 Million Pixels of Performance

The Sony Cyber-shot DSC-F707 ($1,000 street) prosumer digital camera delivers on its promise of great versatility, impressive performance, long battery life, and excellent image qualitybig time. It does, however, have a few quirks and engineering oversights that may frustrate sophisticated users.

At the heart of the DSC-F707 is Sony's 0.67-inch, 5-megapixel CCD, which produces a maximum resolution of 2,560 by 1,920 pixelsenough data to print 11- by14-inch enlargements. The DSC-F707 also offers 2,048-by-1,536, 1,280-by-960, and 640-by-480 resolutions, plus 2,560 pixels in a 3-to-2 aspect ratio. Images can be saved as JPEGs, uncompressed TIFFs, or 8-bit GIF animation clips. In addition, the camera can capture 320-by-240 or 160-by-120 MPEG video clips or record audio annotations. Images are saved to a Sony Memory Stick, although the included 16MB card isn't large enough to record even a single TIFF image file, so we recommend purchasing the largest capacity Memory Stick your budget allows. The camera is powered by Sony's high-capacity, smart lithium ion battery, which provides enough juice for over 3.5 hours and more than 410 shots on a single charge.

The DSC-F707's beautifully finished gray metal body with black no-slip trim is heavy but nicely balanced. Its distinctive 5X optical zoom lens is larger and longer than the camera body. With a swivel rotation of up to 113 degrees, the lens can adjust to allow waist level or overhead viewing when shooting. All buttons, dials, and switches are well marked and easily accessible.

The accessory shoe (not a hot shoe) is on the lens itself. Unfortunately, it can be a top-heavy arrangement, causing the lens to droop out of position when you attach an external flash. The built-in flash conveniently pops open automatically when set to forced flash or auto but only after pressing and holding the shutter button down half way. Curiously, red-eye reduction is not activated by the flash analog button, but must be selected in the setup menu. Inside the lens barrel are three tiny circles containing Sony's Hologram AF laser emitter (to aid auto-focus) and two infrared emitters (for the DSC-F707's NightShot/NightFraming functions, which allow users to see and shoot in almost total darkness).

The DSC-F707 incorporates many features found in comparable prosumer models, including automatic, semi-automatic and manual exposure control, program modes, adjustable auto-bracketing, and a macro that focuses to less than an inch. Although permitting different levels of sharpness and flash intensity, the camera lacks other important prosumer features, such as contrast and color-saturation adjustments, manual white balance, a histogram, and even a black-and-white mode.

The DSC-F707 is a fast performer, with quick boot up and recycle times and comparatively easy-to-navigate controls. The documentation, however, is often inaccurate and misleading. Image quality on default settings is sharp and dense with detail. But our test shots using the flash were overexposed, and our daylight studio shots were underexposed, with a blue shift. The DSC-F707 produced excellent to superb pictures when we used the custom settings.

Given its fast performance and image quality, the DSC-F707 is a top contender for users who have professional demands on a prosumer budget.

Sally Wiener Grotta is a contributing editor of PC Magazine, a professional photographer, a digital artist, and an early pioneer in computer graphics. She has coauthored several books with Daniel Grotta, including The Illustrated Digital...

Daniel Grotta & Sally Wiener Grotta are PC Magazine's Digital Photography Gurus and widely respected experts on imaging and anything to do with pictures in computers. Known for their down-to-earth, easy-to understand approach to fun, creative...

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